PHYS 4267/6268 Introduction to Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos

Introduction to
Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos

Georgia Tech PHYS 4267/6268 - Fall 2016

Instructor

Predrag Cvitanović
Office: Howey W501, phone: 404 487 8469, email: predrag@gatech.edu
Course homepage: ChaosBook.org/~predrag/courses/PHYS-4267-16
Office hours: Tuesday 1-2pm

christopher.marcotte@physics.gatech.edu

Time

Howey Physics Building

Course Description

The material covered includes differential equations, their stability and bifurcations, iterated maps, deterministic chaos, fractals, and strange attractors with applications to physical, chemical, and biological systems. Textbook

Steven Strogatz: Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos (1995 or 2015 edition).
All chapter and exercise numbers refer to this book, unless stated otherwise.

Online resources

S.H. Strogatz lectures
P. Cvitanović lectures (mostly more advanced, presume this course)
Complexity Explorer's courses (pedagogical)

the very best book value per money:

ChaosBook.org Chaos: Classical and Quantum webbook

books strong on maps:
- E. Ott, Chaos in Dynamical Systems, Cambridge Univ Press.
- K. Aligood, T. Sauer, J. Yorke, Chaos: an Introduction to Dynamical Systems, Springer
book strong on Hamiltonian systems:
- A. Lichtenberg, M. Liebermann, Regular and Stochastic Motion, Springer
book strong on perturbation heory:
- C. M. Bender and S. A. Orszag, Advanced Mathematical Methods for Scienists and Engineers: Asymptotic Methods and Perturbation Theory, Springer

Homeworks

Homework assignments will be posted on the web every Thursday and will be due next Thursday in class, with solutions posted to T-square. You can discuss problems with each other, but the solutions have to be executed and submitted individually. Some assignments will include problems (in blue font), which are mandatory for graduates and optional (for extra credit) for undergraduates. Use a computer to do plots - in the long run, it is faster, and it is what you need to learn anyhow You are expected to comply with the academic honor code.

Grades will based on the results of the homework assignments (70%), midterm (10%), and sit-down final exam (20%). The final can be substituted by a lab project (talk to Prof. Goldman).